Michigan rest area reopens

| Monday, January 06, 2003

The Michigan
Department of Transportation reopened the Portland Rest Area on westbound
I-96 Monday, Dec. 30, after it was closed for nearly two months.

The department
said the existing facility would be used while construction of the
new building continues. The rest area, which is northwest of Lansing,
MI, will be closed from April 1 through May 21, 2003, as conversions
from the existing building to the new facility occur.

"The new
facility will be approximately double in size, with improved handicap
accessibility and an updated heating system," Grand Region Engineer
Roger Safford said in a statement.

The Portland
Rest Area had been closed since October to allow for the reconstruction
and expansion of the parking lot and the initial stages of construction
of the new facility.